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Adam Levitan

Draft Analysis

Abusing the Default Rankings

A lot of factors go into where a player is selected during an online fantasy draft. Health, buzz, last year’s stats, position scarcity and preseason performance all play a part. But nothing holds more weight than the pre-draft rankings provided by a site running the league, and that’s really unfortunate.

As I wrote last year, in a perfect world every fantasy draft would be live (yes, actual face-to-face interaction). It would force owners to come with their own lists instead of relying on these default rankings.

However, we don’t live in a perfect world. Some unprepared – or even prepared -- owners use these rankings as a crutch. That means they may be afraid to pull the trigger on X guy in the second round because they are listed a fifth-round guy in the draft room. Or maybe they take Y guy early just because his name is on top of those default rankings. And if there are auto drafters, being aware of who is on top of the list is crucial.

Now, we’re preparing for the actual act of the draft. And, unfortunately, taking advantage of the default rankings are a part of that. Here is a look at what to keep an eye on as you draft on each of the major sites:

* These rankings were found within draft applets as of Monday, August 27.

Players listed lower overall than expected:27. Andre Johnson46. Michael Turner47. Ahmad Bradshaw53. Dez Bryant57. Frank Gore101. Kenny BrittStrategy: Yahoo did a good job of downgrading the older running backs we’d avoid. It’s a shame because those big names would come off the board right away if they were higher in the default ranks. … Kenny Britt’s ADP and default rank hasn’t caught up to his situation. His knees are almost there and the suspension is going to be short.

A lot of factors go into where a player is selected during an online fantasy draft. Health, buzz, last year’s stats, position scarcity and preseason performance all play a part. But nothing holds more weight than the pre-draft rankings provided by a site running the league, and that’s really unfortunate.

As I wrote last year, in a perfect world every fantasy draft would be live (yes, actual face-to-face interaction). It would force owners to come with their own lists instead of relying on these default rankings.

However, we don’t live in a perfect world. Some unprepared – or even prepared -- owners use these rankings as a crutch. That means they may be afraid to pull the trigger on X guy in the second round because they are listed a fifth-round guy in the draft room. Or maybe they take Y guy early just because his name is on top of those default rankings. And if there are auto drafters, being aware of who is on top of the list is crucial.

Now, we’re preparing for the actual act of the draft. And, unfortunately, taking advantage of the default rankings are a part of that. Here is a look at what to keep an eye on as you draft on each of the major sites:

* These rankings were found within draft applets as of Monday, August 27.

Players listed lower overall than expected:27. Andre Johnson46. Michael Turner47. Ahmad Bradshaw53. Dez Bryant57. Frank Gore101. Kenny BrittStrategy: Yahoo did a good job of downgrading the older running backs we’d avoid. It’s a shame because those big names would come off the board right away if they were higher in the default ranks. … Kenny Britt’s ADP and default rank hasn’t caught up to his situation. His knees are almost there and the suspension is going to be short.

Adam Levitan is in his sixth season covering football and basketball for Rotoworld. He won the Fantasy Sports Writers Association award for Best Series in 2011 and 2009, and ESPN's overall fantasy football title in 2000. Find him on Twitter.Email :Adam Levitan